Harridan Vodka, the award-winning, small-batch spirit, is defying everything the industry says a “women’s spirit” should be. Harridan distills its products with the sense of craftsmanship normally reserved for tequila and whiskey. The brand introduces something more considered into the category.
Changing the culture of the spirits industry
Harridan is female-founded, over-proofed and anything but pink. The brand is calling on a cohort of modern, spiritual and feminist drinkers who the industry has historically ignored. The word “harridan” itself means “bossy, belligerent old woman”. Harridan Vodka is the answer to the industry’s misalignment with women. The brand is reclaiming an unfettered desire for women to decide for themselves who they are, what they like and what they imbibe.
Harridan’s founder, Harvard Business School graduate Bridgette Taylor, says, “This is our way of saying ‘we hear you and we see you.’ I wanted to create something that spoke to those who push up against what this industry and what culture more broadly tells us we should like. This isn’t to say that we’re against a flavored pink drink or another spiked seltzer, but it is to say that we are complex consumers who deserve more than one option.”
Handcrafted and high-quality
Harridan delivers a truly handcrafted product that introduces a new level of quality to the category. To bring Harridan to your bar, Taylor partnered with Joe Myer, President and Master Distiller of Myer Farm. This is one of the oldest and largest currently operating organic farms in the Northeast United States. Located in Ovid, New York, Myer Farm has leveraged its decade of “field to flask” experience to produce Harridan’s defining taste. The taste is bold enough to stand out in a cocktail, but smooth enough to sip neat. Harridan Vodka is naturally gluten-free and distilled entirely from New York State ingredients.
“Our goal was to create something with real character that earns its ‘handcrafted’ name and would earn its place in any well-stocked bar,” Taylor says. “Too many people graduate out of vodka to other seemingly more mature or ‘complex’ spirits. Harridan is the vodka that shows them they don’t have to.”
Championing a more inclusive spirits industry
Its overproof strength — 88 proof to be exact — is an homage to the bossy, defiant women of the past. Such women inspired the brand’s namesake. The ethos and history of strong, misunderstood women inspired Harridan’s DNA. However, Taylor wants to make it clear that Harridan isn’t just for women.
“This is for anyone and everyone who resists a culture that tells us who we should be, who stands up for what they feel is right and who they want to be,” Taylor says. “With the name Harridan we are taking pride in being difficult, different and defiant and are looking for others who do the same.”
Harridan’s first batch of limited-edition bottles are hand-blown in Mexico from recycled glass. They are then hand-dipped in the brand’s signature black wax. The brand’s design and bottle has caught the eye of the spirits industry. It won the Double Gold Medal at the 2021 San Francisco World Spirits Competition in the Packaging Design Category. The vodka also earned a Silver Medal in the Vodka tasting category.
Owner Taylor operates Harridan with the help of a team of ambitious women. The vodka is available in 750 ml for a suggested retail price of $59.99. The brand is available via national delivery to 48 states. It is a partner to e-commerce platforms such as Drizly and Reservebar. To find your next bottle, visit https://www.harridan.com/stockists.
About Harridan Vodka
Harridan Vodka is the elevated craft vodka option that speaks to the defiant among us. Founded in 2020 by Bridgette Taylor to cater to the underserved traditional luxury vodka market, it is premium, complex and upends category standards. Made in small batches with the sense of craftsmanship usually reserved for tequila and whiskey, Harridan is distilled in Ovid, New York from organic, local corn grown by fifth generation farmers. It is gluten free and 88 proof (versus vodka’s traditional 80 proof).Harridan Vodka is available in 750ml at select liquor stores in New York City or at www.harridanvodka.com.
Read about the 19th-century widow behind luxury Champagne label Veuve Clicquot!
Add Comment